Be Calm
by Stella-of-the-Stars
Summary: Weeks before Aragorn is to be crowned the new king of Gondor, a visitor comes in the early night to Legolas, telling him the dire news that his father is dying. Legolas is quick to return to his home, and once there he realizes that his father's poisoning is only the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone! My name is Stella and this is my first LOTR fanfic. Forgive me if I don't portray certain canon characters very well, for I'm not too good at writing characters someone else was made! The story is just a tad bit AU.  
**

**Before you read, I just need to tell you a quick thing about the italics. If it's just in the middle of normal text like **_**this**_**, then it most likely is for emphasis. If it's an entire paragraph or more (not in speaking) then it is a dream or vision. And lastly, if it's in quotations "**_**like such"**_** then the person speaking is speaking in Elvish unless stated otherwise. **

**That's the end of my Author's Note, so enjoy the story!**

_His end draws near._

Blue eyes flashed open and scanned the room. It took a moment for him to realize where he was, but it quickly came. He was in Minas Tirith, in the Citadel.

Legolas slowly sat up and came to the realization that he was on the floor, having somehow fallen off the bed in his sleep. The book he had been reading before he took an unplanned nap was still on the bed, right on the page he'd left off on.

Orange sunlight shone through the window as he stood and ran a hand through his hair. _You managed to waste half the day sleeping. Good job. _He thought to himself as he watched the sun descend behind the rolling hills.

The last ray of sun shone down upon a rapid creature moving up the 4th level of Minas Tirith. Legolas honed his vision on the lone creature and saw it to be a white horse, a hooded rider mounted on its back. It galloped towards the settlement with urgency in its stride.

Legolas watched it ride, but his thoughts drifted to his dream- if it could so be called. It was simply a conscious darkness that he could feel himself drifting through. He felt, but he could not see anything but the darkness and there was no sound to be heard. Not until the end, when he heard a familiar and soothing voice whisper 'His end draws near.'

Legolas did not know who the dream spoke of, but he had too many suspicions to count.

His mind soon returned to reality, as he did not allow himself to get lost in thought often, and he was able to relocate the horse riding through the 6th level. In fact, they were seemingly coming towards the heavily guarded gate leading to the 7th level.

They finally came to a halt outside of the gate, just as Legolas had predicted. The rider dismounted quickly and began talking urgently with the servant who had approached him.

They talked- or rather, argued -for a round 15 minutes before another guard came and apparently granted permission for the rider to enter. The rider then sped past the guard and approached the Citadel. He dismounted again and handed the horse's reins to a stable boy as a servant hurried down.

The rider pulled down his hood as he followed the servant up the steps, revealing a shock of long blonde hair as pale and light as Legolas'. The rider glanced around with a feminine face, not only disproving Legolas' suspensions that the rider was male, but also sparking his memory.

His eyes widened and he felt a strong urge to drop his jaw once he connected the face with a name.

Lasca Thranduiliel, his younger sister, entered the building.

Legolas stood dumbfounded by the window for a minute, his mind raced with questions. Why was she here? What happened? Had she simply come to surprise him? Did she bring bad news? Should he go down and greet her? Or should he wait to be called down? What _was_ she doing here?

He pulled himself out of his stupor (the second one within the half hour!) and decided to go down stairs and find out why she was here.

Legolas opened the door to find a servant standing outside, his fist in a knocking position. He quickly lowed his fist and his eyes.

"You have a guest, Prince Legolas. Your sister, the Princess Lasca, awaits you in the first floor gardens, sir." Servant said, his eyes never leaving the ground.

"Thank you." Legolas quickly stepped around the man and hurried down the hall to the stairwell at the end. Once on the first floor it was a short walk to the doorway that lead out to the gardens.

He stopped once there, staring at his younger sister through the doorway as she sat on the edge of the garden balcony. He had not seen her in over ten years, and yet she looked the same. She sat a little taller and her hair was a little longer, but overall not much changed.

"Lasca!" He called as he walked out into the garden. She turned her head and smiled when she saw her older brother with his arms spread wide. The lantern light made her eyes shine the most beautiful blue.

She hopped off the railing and embraced her brother. "Legolas. It's been too long."

"Far too long." He agreed. "It's been ten years since I saw you last." Legolas pulled out of the hug, but kept a hand on her shoulder. It didn't take him long to see that her smile did not match her eyes, which reflected exhaust, sorrow, and- was that fear?

His smile faded and looked deep into her eyes, trying to decide if it was truly fear. But it was quickly gone. "Tell me sister, what brings you here?" Lasca's smile now disappeared in a matter of seconds and her eyes flashed momentarily to the ground.

"Father is dying."

Shock ripped across the older elf's face. "What?! Dying? How can he be dying? What happened?"

"He was poisoned. It happened at the feast last week, which was being held in honor of the Ring's destruction. He took a sip of his wine and he fell over. Mother had brought in nearly every healer in Mirkwood before I left."

"Why wasn't I told of this sooner?" Legolas demanded as he released Lasca's shoulder and walked towards the balcony at the edge of the gardens, trying to wrap his head around the events. _Father can't be dying._

"Because we did not think it that dire at first. Once more than one healer said that there was little chance of survival, I set out. This was as fast as I could get here." Lasca explained, a barely-there edge detected in her voice.

Legolas placed both his hands on the railing, gripping them so tight his knuckles turned white. Somebody had tried to assassinate his father. It had happened in the past, but this was the first time they had succeeded this far. Whoever it was, they were no petty rival.

"_Brother." _Lasca said gently as she pried his fingers from the marble rails. Legolas slowly turned to look at her. Both their emotions were written all across their faces; a rarity among the Greenleaf family.

"Come," He wrapped an arm around his sole sister. "You are exhausted. You can sleep in my chambers tonight, we'll leave for Mirkwood tomorrow." He promised. The brother and sister walked into the warmth of the palace.

**A/N: Please tell me what you think, good or bad! Reviews are always welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**dorina16able- Thank you friend! I'm glad you like it!**

**kara- _oh god, is it really?_ It sort of suggests it in his LOTR wiki article? Maybe? Ish? I probably misinterpreted it, but as I've got nothing else to really work with I'm just going to stick with that.**

* * *

Gimli tilled his cup all the way up, trying to get every last drop of mead out of the goblet. He placed the cup on the table with a _thunk_ and waved over a servant to refill the cup, making it his 3rd within the ten minutes he'd been at dinner. Aragorn sat to his left, drinking his water in a _much_ more civilized fashion. Merry and Pippin sat across Aragorn and Gimli, munching on finger foods and chatting with each other.

"Already?" Aragorn asked the dwarf, raising an eyebrow as he cut up his venison.

"I'm only on my 3rd!" Gimli responded, attempting to justify his drinking. Aragorn simply shook his head and returned to his meat.

"I saw somethin' odd on my way down here." Gimli said gruffly once a few minutes had past, remembering the sight he saw while walking to the dining hall. "Legolas was walking with this woman, but she- she looked just like him! I've never seen quite a pair of twins like those two!"

Merry and Pippin stopped talking and looked with interest to Gimli, waiting for details. Aragorn simply said "Legolas has no twin".

"He does too! I saw it with my own eyes!" Gimli protested.

"You probably saw him with one of his kinfolk; they look all about the same."

"You didn't see this one. She looked just like him! Hair, eyes, skin, everything!"

Aragorn calmly tried a different route. "Then perhaps it was his sister, Gimli, because I can assure you Legolas has no twin." Gimli probably would have continued arguing with him, despite the fact Aragorn knew more about Legolas than he, but the elf himself entered the informal dining hall and joined them at the table.

"Legolas!" Gimli said as soon as he sat down and calmly choose a red apple from the fruit bowl in the center of the table."That she-elf you were with, she's yer twin right?"

Legolas shook his head, much to Gimli's dismay. "That was Lasca. She is not my twin, but my sister. I am 600 years older." He explained.

Aragorn raised his eyebrows at Gimli in an 'I-told-you-so' gesture. "So the princess of Mirkwood _is_ here. Where is she now? I would love the honor of finally meeting her.'

"She is sleeping. She's been traveling for almost 5 days with barely any rest." His gaze did not move once from his apple, staring at it as if it knew the secrets of the universe and he had to interrogate them out of it. "She unfortunately came to deliver bad news, and to bring me home."

Gimli considered making a remark about how Legolas needed his sister to take him home, but held it back at the mention of bad news.

"Well don't keep us guessing!" Pippin declared impatiently from across the table. "What's happened?"

Merry punched him in the arm and Aragorn shot him a nasty glare.

"My father, King Thranduil, has been poisoned." Legolas explained carefully, finally looking up and meeting their gazes. "He is dying."

The table went absolutely silent, as well as some of the other tables around them.

"Poisoned?" Merry squeaked. Legolas nodded his answer.

The hobbits muttered an apology, which was followed by a heartfelt "I'm sorry, friend" from Gimli.

"Are you done eating Legolas?" Aragorn asked, knowing he wasn't planning on eating the apple on his plate. "Would you join me for a walk outside?"

Legolas pushed away from the table and shook his head. "I should check on my sister." He said before adding, "I will be leaving with her tomorrow." He looked them each of them in the eye. Even Gimli could see the hints of sorrow and fear in his eyes. Few had ever seen Legolas this open with his emotions.

He picked up the apple and left the room.

"I am going for a walk." Aragorn declared, before leaving the table as well. The hobbits said something about Frodo and left too, leaving Gimli alone at the table.

Gimli then downed his 3rd goblet of mead, now that the table was empty and he had a sorrow set in his heart. "Servant!" He called. "Bring me a bottle of yer strongest liquor!"

The servant did as he had requested, bringing him a tall, dark bottle. With a 'to hell with cups' the dwarf pressed the bottle to his lips and began chugging the burning liquid.

* * *

Lasca shot up from her sleep. Her eyes darted across the room, searching the room for anyone and trying to remember where she was. A nightmare had awaken her only mere seconds before and she was drenched in sweat.

She swung her feet off the side of the bed and wiped some of the sweat off her cheek with the back of her hand, breathing heavily. The room was so hot to her, she felt as if she were going to burn up any second. Lasca pulled herself out of bed and went outside onto the balcony, still wearing the same riding pants and brown tunic she'd fallen asleep in and had been wearing for the last 5 days.

Lasca sat on the bench swing, pulled her legs to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and placed her chin on top. The bitterly cold breeze easily invaded her thin shirt, and swung the bench some. She shivered in the cold, but was glad to have something distract her from her terrible nightmare.

The cold didn't distract her for long though, and she was soon fighting off her mind from resurfacing the dream. But it soon came back to her.

_Queen Kartra raced through the thick woods, panic painted clearly on her face. She stole a glance at whatever was chasing her, and urged her horse to go faster. She began praying in Elvish 'Let me get to Mirkwood, please Valar, let me get to Mirkwood.' The queen repeated the phrase over and over, tears welling up in her eyes. _

'_Please, please!'_

_3 arrows shot out of the dark behind her, piercing each of the horse's back legs and its neck. The animal fell and tumbled, Kartra's leg was crushed in the process._

_She tried to stand and began limping towards the direction she had been riding in, desperation written on her face. 6 hooded men on horseback emerged from the darkness and surrounded her. The tallest dismounted and pulled a knife from his belt._

'_Please!' The mother begged. "I'll give you anything you want, please don't!' _

_The man ignored her pleas and raised the knife. _

The last thing Lasca saw was her mother's face, twisted in sheer pain and agony. Her mother's scream echoed through her mind.

"Lasca?" Legolas' voice freed her from her thoughts. He had entered the room while she was re-dreaming and now stood in the doorway, an uneaten apple clutched in his hand. "What are you doing out here?" Lasca raised her gaze to her brother, before turning it to the sleeping city stretching out below.

"I wanted some fresh air."

Legolas raised an eyebrow and sat next to her. It was obvious he didn't believe she was telling the entire truth. Lasca made the mistake of making eye contact. Legolas read her like a book.

"Something is troubling you. It's not just father, is it?" Lasca remained silent. She could feel her brother staring at her with concern, but she did not look his way. He moved closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What is it Lasca?"

His soothing voice almost made her shutter, but it did help to relax her some. She unwound from her curled up position. She confessed the dream and Legolas listen intently until she finished speaking. He removed the hand from her shoulder and took one of her's in his.

"_Do you think my abilities are back_?" Lasca spoke in Elvish, her voice barely a whisper.

"_No,"_ Legolas responded almost immediately. "_They fixed that. You were just having a nightmare."_

"_That was over 300 years ago. What if it came back? What if-"_

"_Stop it_!" He said firmly; Lasca shrank back and pulled her hand from his. He sighed, lowered his voice and continued. "_You're trying to scare yourself. Mother and father made sure you couldn't do that anymore. Mother is fine and is going to be fine."_

Lasca just nodded, knowing that if she said anything about it else Legolas would just shoot it down.

Legolas realized what he'd done and immediately felt guilt nagging at the back of his mind._ She opened up to you and you shut her up._

He looked down at his hand and realized that he was still holding the apple, and remembered that he'd brought it up for her.

"You must be hungry." He said, offering out the apple with a small attempted smile. Lasca glanced at the red fruit and merely shook her head. Legolas' smile faded and he lowered his apple-holding hand. It was a rarity for Lasca to turn down food. _Is she thinner than she usually is?_ Of course, it was quite possible that she had gotten thinner since the last time they meet, as it was ten years ago, and she had always been naturally small around the waist. It might have just been a figment of Legolas' buzzing mind, but she looked _too thin_ under her loose shirt.

"When was the last time you ate?" He asked, his eyes alert and his voice filled with worry. When she answered with only a shrug he said, with an aggravated tone, "Lasca."

She thought for a moment. "Last week at the feast." She answered, completely shocking her brother.

"Last week?" Her brother repeated with wide eyes. "How've you not managed to eat since then?"

"After father was poisoned, I lost any appetite. And I left so suddenly when I learned he was dying that, even if I was craving food, I didn't pack anything. Along the way I didn't stop anywhere for more than ten minutes."

"Come on." Legolas instructed, helping her to stand. "Let's get you something to eat."

In an instant Lasca's stomach caught up with her mind, and her mind caught up with her. She realized just how tired, weak, and hungry she was. In all the stress, fear, and shock, she'd pushed it to the back of her mind and left there. She let Legolas lead her through the small chambers and she felt a most painful stomach growl.

Legolas led her out into the hall and hoped that one of the cooks was still awake and in the kitchen. And if no one was, then he would go and make something himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay guys, I got the last name thing sorted out! It's all ok now. I apologize that it took me so long to get this chapter up. I just kept pushing off writing it, and when I was actually able to work on it I had a hard time thinking of what to write. But I finally managed to finish!**

**dorina16able: Of course he can't, it's Gimli we're talking about here! And I simply adore those tight brother-sister bonds. I've always wished for a brother too.**

**MyCephei: Wow, thank you! I'm so happy you like the story! All in good time, lovely. :)**

**Issy: I see that now, thank you. And thank you for reviewing, I'm glad you like the story. :)**

**Aranel Mereneth: First of all, thank you SO MUCH for clarifying the** **Thranduilion/Thranduiliel thing. I saw the male version on another fic and tried to find out the female version, but with no avail. And her name means 'army or soldier'. I'm glad you like the story and thank you so much for reviewing.**

* * *

The sky was cloudy the next morning and the usual laughter and cheer of the recovering city was nearly nonexistent. There was a chill throughout the city, left over from the night before. Aragorn held his cloak close around him as he stood outside of the citadel, waiting with his friends for the elves to come and say their farewells.

He hear the doors creak open and the elven siblings stepped outside; Legolas first, with Lasca following quickly behind him. This was the first time Aragorn really had a look at the Mirkwood princess since he was- 50? His image of her had faded greatly since then, almost to the point where he only remembered her lovely eyes.

He had to admit, now that his image of her was refined, that Gimli's mistake of declaring them twins was an easy one to make. They obviously shared the blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes that most Mirkwood elves had, but along with this their facial structures were quite similar.

"We have an audience." Lasca said as she and Legolas reached the bottom of the stairs, trying to lighten the tension.

Legolas had his eyebrows knit and seemed to be deep in thought, but when Aragorn approached he seemly returned to reality.

"I am deeply sorry, my friend." He said as he placed a hand on Legolas' shoulder, and the elf did the same. "I wish you well on your journey. Give your father my best wishes."

"Thank you Aragorn." Legolas said earnestly.

An awkward silence settled over the two, only being broken when Aragorn waved over a man and said 'this is Nestor, he is one of our finest healers. He'll be going with you.'

The elf glanced at Nestor and nodded. His arm slipped back to his side and he walked to say goodbye to Gimli.

Lasca now stood in front of the future king, looking him up and down as if inspecting a horse.

"Fit your criteria, princess?" He asked sarcastically, hoping she wasn't in as much shock as her brother.

The she-elf raised an eyebrow at his remark. "Don't get too excited. I'm examining your aging, seeing how you men are always doing that. Ruining your pretty faces with your wrinkles."

Now it was Aragorn's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Wrinkles? I assure you I have none."

Lasca stepped forward and tapped his forehead twice. "You have two. That's two more since the last time we met."

"Well as you said, that's what we do. Age and ruin our 'pretty faces'." Aragorn placed mock struggle on the last two words, as if saying them pained him. She gave a small smile in response.

"_Thank you for taking care of Legolas. You have no idea how much I feared when I received word that he would be venturing on this quest." _Lasca thanked him with seriousness and sincerity. "_Thank you."_

"_I wouldn't give myself all the credit. Your brother helped me out of quite a many ruts. Even saved my life."_

Nothing else was said between the two, only a hand on the other's shoulder; a sign of respect. And then both continued on, as if nothing had happened.

Half an hour passed and the elves were ready to leave. Both introductions and goodbyes had been exchanged, and their few belongings were strapped to the horses. An almost unbearable silence was over the city as the future kings spoke the final farewell.

And then they were off; two elves and a man racing through the cleared streets on horseback. They rushed through level after level until they reached the final gate.

Slowly everyone returned to their homes and businesses, their gossiping and bartering. But not the Fellowship. The four hobbits, man, dwarf, and wizard, all watched until the horses disappeared over the horizon, and continued to linger long after. Only when their stomachs cried like children and their heads ached did they leave. They left with an emptiness that would remain until they were reunited with their dear friend.

* * *

The ride to Mirkwood lasted 6 grueling days. Stops were rare, quick, and only happened if necessary. There were stops for food, instead they simply slowed the horses to a trot and quickly passed around lembas.

Everyone felt the pressure and the fear. Their minds all buzzed with the same questions and words that they all tried desperately to swat away. They needed to be there _right now. _This journey was taking entirely _too long._ What if their father passed on? More importantly, what if he passed on before they arrived? What if he was already dead?


End file.
